It's a cruel cruel sport. The French Fed wanted to shake things up for a while now. Adeline Canac could not land her jumps to save her life. Bonheur was the weakest link of the partnership. So, you bring the strongest skaters together. DG was very active behind close doors to get this done. They are skating in Paris today, so I am sure that we will see pictures soon.

Oh my !!! A dream team. It's been said on FSU several times, DG maybe listen to us !!!
For sure they would be great together, strong skaters with artistic qualities, both very reliable. They can reach the top together.

Now they can pair up Canac and Bonheur !!! Ok just kidding, I'm already deconnected !

well I'd missed that in the other threads so I'm kind of happy at this news, although I'm also a bit sad for bonheur. Strangely, James and Bonheur never got respect from the judges even when they skated great, so I'll be curious to see how Coia and James are received.... I hope this works, Coia definitely deserves a decent partner!

James and Coia are both very consistent jumpers. I could see them going for 3S and 3T very easilly. She is fearless in those throws. They are both very flexible. They both competed for France last year, so they would not have any problems competing right away. A lot of the ingredients for success are here.

Active few weeks for French pair skaters! On top of these, Blanchard will be skating with Moody Maria, won't he? Maybe Sabrina Lefrancois can come back and skate with Bonheur. And, while on the subject on French girls in pairs, what's Marylin Pla doing these days? They definitely have a high attrition rate for female partners in France

I know it might sound silly, but I really loved the way James and Bonheur looked together, because of their skin colour. They looked like two yummy chocolates - add some ice looking like some yummy cream I hope it doesn't offend anyone, they have both beautiful skin colour and it looked so amazing on the ice. But of course, that's not a reason to keep a pair together anyway, I really love Vanessa, so hope she can achieve a lot with her new partner.

Well, if Vanessa and Maxime are going to go outside France for coaching , I wish they'd go to Richard Gauthier..I think they could look pretty wonderful together ,they already have good skills , and he's about the best polishing master out there, IMO.

I know it might sound silly, but I really loved the way James and Bonheur looked together, because of their skin colour. They looked like two yummy chocolates - add some ice looking like some yummy cream I hope it doesn't offend anyone, they have both beautiful skin colour and it looked so amazing on the ice. But of course, that's not a reason to keep a pair together anyway, I really love Vanessa, so hope she can achieve a lot with her new partner.

Not sure if Vanessa was born in Bermuda or Canada. I believe she acquired citizenship from her parents being orginally from Canada. She spent most of her youth attending schools and learning how to skate in Virginia, USA.

Crud I really likes James & Bonheur together. They really set the crowd off at the 2009 Worlds in LA. They had a dynamic feeling about them, that made you feel like they could really be something after a few more years together.

I wish the new pairing of James & Coia the best of luck and I hope Yannick finds a new partner.

LOL, I thought Maximin wanted to do tours in Canada...Anyway, Vanessa is beautiful and Maximin is a great skater. I hope it will work between them

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Hi briancoogaert. Coia wanted to do tours in Canada? As a pairs or singles skater? I know he currently resides in Montreal, and I thought he'd actually make a decent singles skater. He should try that if he and James don't work out.

Drama!!! Yannick showed up at the rink that day and discovered Vanessa and Maximin on the ice. Apparently, he had no idea about the try-out. Vanessa or the French Fed did not tell him. Apparently, Vanessa knew that Yannick would show up because it was "Pairs Day" in Paris...
I can't wait to get the skater's interviews.

Drama!!! Yannick showed up at the rink that day and discovered Vanessa and Maximin on the ice. Apparently, he had no idea about the try-out. Vanessa or the French Fed did not tell him. Apparently, Vanessa knew that Yannick would show up because it was "Pairs Day" in Paris...
I can't wait to get the skater's interviews.

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Hello,

THIS is Vanessa James! I first would like to thank the people who have supported Yannick and I throughout our journey together and also the people who wish us both the best on our separate ways! I would like to clear up a few things, because obviously this story was not clear and people are starting to say &#8220;n&#8217;importe quoi!&#8221; (as they call it in french&#8230; &#8220;nonsense!&#8221

Firstly, NOBODY knows the relationship Yannick and I had on the ice in practice every day! Only Yannick and I, the federation, our coach and the French team who were there to see us off the camera, outside of competition. Yannick and I have been struggling for the last year and half on how to work productively and how to work well together! No one that saw us practice on the ice everyday would disagree! Yannick and I have talked about this on and off, before and after many competitions this season! No one knows the things that happened between Yannick and I this season&#8230; but I am sure if you all knew, things would be a lot more clear!

After worlds we had reached a breaking point! We both talked to the federation about our feelings and the federation was very understanding! I took the decision that I didn&#8217;t have the motivation to continue working the way we had been for the last year and a half! I didn&#8217;t believe things would change! I love France and love living there and working there! Saying that, there were still sacrifices that were made&#8230; to move and leave my family and friends, to a different country and learn a new language! It&#8217;s an amazing experience but when skating gets to a point where it is not fun anymore because we don&#8217;t work together, we don&#8217;t listen, we don&#8217;t get along EVERY DAY&#8230; it gets very hard! I love skating and I want to love it every day, even when it is hard, or frustrating. Yannick and I were far past this point! It was made clear to the federation and Yannick that I did not believe in our partnership. The federation said they would find a solution to help us both! We decided together to finish the galas because we had responsibilities to those clubs!

Maximin and I had a tryout last week, yes! It was one of the solutions the federation found because Maximin was without a partner also. They thought it would be a good idea to see how we looked together and worked together! Of course it was something new and fun and my motivation had returned but no decision was made! I assure you Yannick was told about this tryout! He was told that Maximin would be skating with me at Bercy and that he was free to come, but perhaps it was better that he did not! So I wish people would not talk about things they do not know!

Of course it was hard for Yannick, which is completely understandable, but do not make it look like he was completely in the dark about us not skating together. As of the 1st week of May Yannick and I were not official partners anymore! This he knew and was aware! The tryout was no surprise to Yannick when he arrived at Bercy for the Pairs training test. It was a surprise for me that he decided to come!

I just wanted to clear a few things up! I do appreciate our work and my journey with Yannick! He is a good person and has a wonderful family! But he knows just as well as I, that lines were crossed in our skating relationship, and if we are at this point now&#8230; it is from mistakes we both made and we are both to blame! The difference is&#8230; I chose that I wanted to make a change!

Hi Vanessa. Thank you for clarifying this. I apologize for my previous post. I was translating something I saw on another forum and did not double-check the facts.
I hope to see your beautiful smile on the 2014 podium with Maximin or another partner.

Hi Vanessa, thanks for clearing things up! I'm very excited for the new partnership, if it works out. I wish you all the best whatever happens, same also to Yannick and Maximin.

thanks again for writing so openly to us about the problems in your partnership with Yannick, I would never have guessed you didn't get along so well, you really gave me a good feeling when you skated last season. hope to see you on the ice again soon, with Maximin or someone else

I can only imagine that Pairs/Ice Dance partnerships must be extremely intensive. You're spend so much time together and especially when things aren't going very well it must put so much pressure on the relationship.

And when you stop getting along, for whatever reason, I can't imagine further contiuing as a team, having to spend so much time together every day.

I hope that your new partnership with Maximin works out. I enjoyed your skating very much, over the last few years, and hopefully there's more still to come.

Vanessa..it's very good of you to take the time to inform us when you must be so very busy.

I hope you succeed in finding a partner since I think you are a beautiful skater with an elegant on-ice presence . If things should work out with Maxime..I know Canadian fans would be thrilled if you were to train in Canada... ( for whatever that's worth).

Regardless, I look forward to following your career and wish you the very best.